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With this in mind, the trio set out to cast the characters, which proved to be a daunting process. Casting for Charlie Brown proved most difficult, as it required both good acting skills but also the ability to appear nonchalant.[14] The producers picked eight-year-old Peter Robbins, already known for his roles spanning television, film, and advertisements.[15] His godmother, famous Hollywood agent Hazel McMillen, discovered Christopher Shea, who would become Linus in the special.[15] His slight lisp, according to Mendelson, gave him a "youthful sweetness," while his emotional script reading "gave him power and authority as well."[17] Tracy Stratford played the role of Lucy, with the creators being impressed by her attitude and professionalism.[18] Kathy Steinberg was the youngest of the performers, just six years old at the time of recording. Too young to read, the producers had to give her one line at a time to recite.[18] Robbins remembered Melendez did this for him as well, joking that he also mistakenly copied his Latino accent.[2] Mendelson desired to have non-actors (not "Hollywood kids") perform on the special, and he sent tape recorders home with his employees for their children to audition.[13]

Our testing also included the Contech Enterprises TS9405 Indoor Steel Christmas Tree Stand and the currently unavailable Emerald Innovations XTS1 Swivel Straight Tree Stand For 12′ Tree (also known as the 1-Minute Tree Stand). Neither was as stable as the Tree Genie XXL or the Cinco. The Emerald Innovations started to tip at 30 Newtons of pulling force, and the Contech tipped at 25 Newtons. Performance was similar with large and small trees. Both the Emerald Innovations and Contech stands have 1½-gallon reservoirs—sufficient, but the smallest among tested models.

When it comes to Christmas trees the fakes are just as fabulous as real trees. Ingenuity coupled with modern technology has made most faux trees fantastic. Flocked, frosted, fiber-optics, solar power ? these are just a few of the technological advances coupled with quality craftsmanship and features like realistic needles which have made it difficult to impossible to distinguish the fakes from the real thing.

Why spend a bundle on Christmas decorations when you can save big and buy even more gifts for family and friends? Decorate your home indoors and out with attractive holiday and Christmas wreaths, garlands and more; enjoy elegance, savings and style. It’s easy to achieve a designer look when you shop online; savvy shoppers check in early and often because the selection is always changing and supplies are limited. Stock up on gorgeous Christmas garlands and wreaths along with elegant door wreaths, window wreaths, oversize wreaths, indoor/outdoor wreaths, door swags, fireplace mantel garland, holiday garlands and so much more. Share the holiday joy with decorative Christmas wreaths – display them indoors and out for a festive touch and dress up your home for the holidays. Decorate the porch, portico, deck and more; wrap holiday garland around mailbox posts and walkway lights – you can afford to go big with bargains that stretch your décor dollars.

The John Wright company produced the L.L. Bean Heirloom Christmas tree stand so the frame is entirely made of cast iron. While this tree stand felt nigh indestructible, it didn't hold onto our Christmas tree well. On a side note, some consumers may take issue with the cast iron construction. It weighs around 20 pounds. Not an insurmountable weight, but enough that we wouldn't want to lug it in and out of the attic every Christmas.

Most artificial trees are made of recycled PVC rigid sheets using tin stabilizer in the recent years. In the past, lead was often used as a stabilizer in PVC, but is now banned by Chinese laws.[citation needed] The use of lead stabilizer in Chinese imported trees has been an issue of concern among politicians and scientists over recent years. A 2004 study found that while in general artificial trees pose little health risk from lead contamination, there do exist "worst-case scenarios" where major health risks to young children exist.[118] A 2008 United States Environmental Protection Agency report found that as the PVC in artificial Christmas trees aged it began to degrade.[119] The report determined that of the 50 million artificial trees in the United States approximately 20 million were 9 or more years old, the point where dangerous lead contamination levels are reached.[119] A professional study on the life-cycle assessment of both real and artificial Christmas trees revealed that one must use an artificial Christmas tree at least 20 years to leave an environmental footprint as small as the natural Christmas tree.[116]

Tree stands are designed for trunks of a certain length and diameter. Typically, you use a tree stand designed for a taller tree on a smaller one. The exception is when the trunk is too narrow. For example, a tree stand designed to take a 12-foot tree may only take a trunk that's down to three inches in diameter, any slimmer and you risk the tree falling over.
If you’re looking to switch up your holiday decor, a great place to start is with your Christmas tree. Take a little decorative risk and opt for extravagance with a statement-making tree that will enliven your home and wow your guests. Whether you're set on a color scheme, love one style, or have heirloom ornaments you can't wait to use, your tree should reflect your taste and personality
One of the Krinner’s other major advantages is the ability to handle a wide range of trunk sizes. With the claws cranked all the way down, this stand will hold a tree with a trunk as small as 1 inch in diameter. The maximum trunk diameter it will accept is 7 inches. That gives you a lot of flexibility on tree sizes. When testing on our smaller tree, with its 3.5-inch diameter trunk, some other stands’ screws could barely extend far enough to meet the trunk (and they wouldn’t work with a tree any smaller than that).
This Kurt Adler Musical Charlie Brown Tree is a fun, festive way to add to your holiday décor! This tree resembles the poor, bare tree Charlie Brown lovingly chooses for the Christmas play in the animated holiday classic, "A Charlie Brown Christmas". This musical tree is bent over with sparse needles on each branch, and has one red ball ornament hanging from the branches. It rests on a crossed brown stand. When activated, the tree plays the signature Peanuts theme song, "Linus and Lucy"!
A creative and relatively easy-to-work assembly: Slide a little cone-shaped piece on the trunk of the tree, then pick up the tree and drop that into the base. Tap the lever in the base with your foot to allow you to adjust the tree until it’s straight, then lock it in position. This base has a small diameter of 19.25 inches, since it doesn’t have the long arms of other options. Just be warned: It can’t take trees with trunks larger than five inches in diameter, and the water reservoir is tough to fill, since you have access only at the little slot at the top of the stand.
Wayfair carries all that you're looking for and more when decorating your home inside and out, especially for Christmas time. Everything from fresh cut Christmas wreaths, faux florals for the table, Christmas swags, hanging accessories and so much more— you can find it all on Wayfair. With great options like lighted garlands for shoppers looking to brighten up their door or staircase, to classic Christmas swag to use in your table settings, Wayfair is a one-stop-shop for all things home during the holiday season. Take a look below for a detailed description of all our holiday wreaths available for purchase.

Whether you pick a blue spruce or a balsam fir, you put all that effort into finding and cutting down the perfect Christmas tree—don't let it go to waste. The right Christmas tree stand can help keep your tree stable, hydrated, and alive longer (not to mention, help you show off your tree's best side), so they're worth the investment—unless you plan to go the artificial tree route.

Second, it needs a sizeable reservoir of water to keep the tree moist and “alive” (or at least prevent it from drying out and losing all its needles) for as long as possible. A dry tree is not only ugly and messy, it’s a fire hazard. Though this is rare, it does happen—according to the National Fire Protection Association, between 2009 and 2013, Christmas trees were the source of an average of 210 home fires each year, according to a National Fire Protection Association. So how much water is enough? The National Christmas Tree Association notes that, “Generally, a tree can use up to one quart of water per day for each inch of stem diameter.” That’s 1½ gallons each day for a 6-inch-diameter tree. Larger water capacity is always better, so you’re not constantly worried about watering the tree.
We also like the Cinco C-144E Express, which remains a reliable backup choice after several years of considering new models. It’s stable, and its ample 3-gallon reservoir has an overflow basin to catch drips. The downside is that the tree is secured by four cumbersome hand-twisted bolts, but they do have a quick-release—this speeds up the process considerably and sets this stand apart from the many other similar designs. It’s not as easy to use as the Krinner, and not as versatile, with a design that accepts only tree trunks larger than 3.5 inches in diameter (that’s a tree about 6½ feet or taller). Last, this stand is quite large; if you’re planning on getting a smaller tree, you can step down to the Cinco C-148E.
Best Reviews included the Jack-Post model in its list of the best Christmas tree stands because the reviewers liked how it handled trees ten feet tall and larger. However, the stand lost points because the washers can get stuck inside the tree when you disassemble the unit. The Tree Stand rated this product 9.1 out of 10 because it is rust resistant, sturdy and durable, has a large water reservoir, and comes with a lifetime warranty. The10Pro also liked the metal bowl that keeps the tree steady and firm.
^ Jennifer Eremeeva (15 Dec 2010). "And so, is this Christmas?". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Archived from the original on 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2015-10-03. Russian Christians adhere to the Eastern Orthodox calendar, which lags 13 days behind the modern day calendar. This discrepancy was corrected in 1918, by the fledgling Bolshevik regime, but Christmas never reverted to December 25th in Russia, because the Bolsheviks began a systematic campaign to phase out traditional religious holidays and replace them with Soviet ones. Christmas was shifted to New Year's Eve. At the beginning, stringent measures were put in place to see off any holdover of the old days: Christmas trees, introduced to Russia by Tsar Peter The Great in the 17th Century, were banned in 1916 by the Holy Synod as too German. The Bolsheviks kept the tree ban in place. Stalin declared Ded Moroz "an ally of the priest and kulak," and outlawed him from Russia.
Size: The size and width of your tree is an important factor to consider when searching for Christmas tree stands. Standard Christmas tree stands support trees up to 7 feet tall. Check the manufacturer’s guidelines to find out if a stand can accommodate taller Christmas trees. If you do have a taller tree, look for Christmas tree stands with a circular base. A stand with a wide, circular Christmas tree base provides better stabilization, preventing your room’s star attraction from tipping over while also keeping it perfectly aligned.

We also found the Best Choice tree really easy to set up. Simply click the three tree sections into place, fluff and you’re done. The only challenging part was the top third of the tree. Some of its branches were compressed so tightly against the center pole that we didn’t realize they needed to be pulled down at first. There were some complaints on Amazon about the top of this tree being too small, and we think that this could be why.
At the end of the Middle Ages, an early predecessor appears referred in the Regiment of the Order of Cister around 1400, in Alcobaça, Portugal. The Regiment of the local high-Sacristans of the Cistercian Order refers to what may be considered one of the oldest references to the Christmas tree: "Note on how to put the Christmas branch, scilicet: On the Christmas eve, you will look for a large Branch of green laurel, and you shall reap many red oranges, and place them on the branches that come of the laurel, specifically as you have seen, and in every orange you shall put a candle, and hang the Branch by a rope in the pole, which shall be by the candle of the altar-mor."[21]